Time Bomb
by Kitiara-chaa
Summary: He's never been able to forget her, stubborn as he was. But he was able to push her to the back of her mind, never even admitting that she was one of the main reasons why he became a scientist. Ten years later, who is he forced to work with but her?
1. Chapter 1

The smoke began to clear from the battle field, and Gary's smug smile was clear for all to see all the way to the stands when it was revealed that his Electivire stood strong against the gym leader's fallen Pidgeot.

"And the winner is, Gary Oak from Pallet Town!"

The spiky haired brunette smirked and waved as his cheerleaders burst in to loud cheers, all rushing over to congragulate their 'king' with wet kisses and hugs and some even with tears of joy in their eyes. Well, all that is, except one. And he expected it. Even through all his various cheerleader's pompoms and arms, his stormy blue eyes actively sought out her short stature, and the long dark locks that was signature to one Catherine Thorne, more commonly known as Kitty.

She was never one to stand in throngs of people, and from that Gary could see that she didn't like being the center of attraction. But he could also see how she genuinely wished him to do well, and that was perhaps the main reason why he couldn't bring himself to treat her with the same disregard he treated the rest of the cheerleaders.

Spotting the dark head of hers standing just after the bleachers where the bunch of girls had sat, he untangled himself and left the flighty females to cry themselves silly over his win, and instead walked over to flash her a triumphant smirk. "I won."

"I know. I have eyes, I saw." she retorted, her sarcasm not even fazing Gary anymore. At first, he had been surprised that someone like her would've even joined his cheerleading team, but after awhile he got used to it, even relished it. So his smirk didn't even falter whilst he waited for further comment from her, comment that he knew would come. And rewarded he was, as the wry smile she wore melted in to one of true joy whilst she stood up. "Congratulations."

Funny how one congratulations from her triumphed the standing ovation he got from any other girl out there. But whilst his twelve year old head didn't get it, his twelve-year old heart simply refused to admit it.

* * *

The night sparkled, but Gary refused to enter the Pokemon Centre and retire for the night. Quite unlike his friends Ash and his gang, Gary travelled with ease, the red sportscar making it a breeze for him and his gang of cheerleaders to make their way to the next Pokemon Centre before night fell. But it wasn't because Gary wanted to, no. It was because those flighty girls simply refused to camp outside, something that Gary wasn't aversed to at all. But despite being a touch arrogant and sure, Gary wasn't a complete ass, so he conceded to make sure they spent every night at a place with a bed, if just to placate the girls. But he really did enjoy the outdoors, so the guy couldn't help but spend some time just sitting on the lawn outside of the Centre, eyes turned to gaze at the star studded sky whilst he thought back on his win.

Electivire was strong, but how could he have let his Blastoise lose to a fire-type Charizard? That lost still bugged him, and fired his determinance even more to find out about Pokemon and their weaknesses, so as to cover up his own team's available ones. Just as he was starting to figure out what type of moves he could learn though, the opening of the Centre's glass doors distracted him, and glanced over his shoulder, grinning when he saw the familiar form of Kitty walking out.

Her dark hair was pinned back, the shorts and shirt she wore unlike the more... delicate ones the rest of the girls wore. But then, Gary admitted to himself, Kitty was not like any other girl he's ever known anyway.

Grinning as she took a seat next to him, the two fell in silence, one that wasn't awkward nor odd. They did this often, Kitty joining him for a midnight talk once in a while. It was why Gary considered the girl more of a friend then a simple supporter, and why he shared more of his thoughts to her then anyone else. Usually, he would break the silence by asking her what she thought of the day's battle, because while she may not look the part, Gary knew Kitty was far more observant and intuitive then she let on. But this time, it was Kitty who broke the silence. "Gary, why do you only train the strongest pokemon you can find? Why are you a trainer?"

He blinked, surprised and a little bewildered at her question. Why? Because that Ashyboy was one! And anything that spike-head could do, Gary Oak could do better. Afterall, was he not the grandson of Professor Oak, a famous Pokemon scientist? "Strength equals power, Kitty. What is the point in training those that are weak?" he said.

"To help them!" she retorted heatedly, and Gary blinked in surprise again, a little taken aback. Kitty had never spoken in such a tone before, what was the matter? When he turned to look at her, her eyes held a passion he had never seen before, never expected to come from the silent, docile girl he had come to know.

"Training Pokemon is an art Kitty. One helps them by increasing their strength."

"But would you still be doing this if it wasn't for one Ash Ketchum?" Her silent question came, and for once Gary had no idea what to respond to that. Would he still be battling, be insisting on all of his Pokemon being the best if it wasn't for Ash? He didn't know, because honestly, his rival had always been his goal. Whatever Ash did, Gary Oak had to do, and he had to do better.

"You're brilliant, Gary. You can do so much, help so many. Battling is something you excel at, but it just proves that you have intelligence that makes you capable of excelling at so much more. I don't understand why must you immerse yourself in this life of being surrounded by girls and pushing yourself to battle when you can do... so much more."

"What do you mean?"

"That your life is the type of life I fear I might fall in to, if I don't leave now."

"Leave?" Gary echoed quickly, surprised at the fear that creeped in to his heart at the idea of Kitty leaving his troop. What would he do without her silent encouragement, their little playful banters, and their silent talks every night?

"I'm leaving Gary. I want to be a researcher, a Pokemon researcher to help Pokemon yet undiscovered, or fossils yet to be found. Its a dream, a dream I want to realize." she admitted silently, and Gary responded harshly, getting up quickly that when Kitty turned to look at him, he was already standing and glaring at her.

"What do you mean leave? You can't leave!"

"Why not? Its my dream Gary. Its always been my desire to follow in my father's footsteps. I can't be your lackey my whole life!"

"What's wrong with that? You don't want to see me winning battles?"

"I do! But... not like this. You're too concerned over power to see that Pokemon battling is about working together with your Pokemon, understanding them, not just working them to the bone just so you could beat your rival."

"And you do?" he sneered, a mean streak in his voice he's never used on Kitty before. Immediately, he regretted it when he saw the hurt flash across her face. But arrogant as he was, he would never apologize. So he said nothing as the girl spoke up again. "I understand that there is so much more to Pokemon then just battling against each other. I want to know more. I want to do better and meaningful things in my life. And I know you can do it as well, if you just put your mind to it."

It was a soft response, one that was tinged with regret and hurt as she finally turned and walked away. Gary's chest ached at her retreating figure, and when the glass doors finally closed to hide her figure from his watching eyes, the guy scowled and turned back to gaze at the stars. But no longer was his thoughts on his battle, or on anything else but the person who had just walked away. "Fine." he hissed, crossing arms over his chest with a stubborn sulk on his face. "See if I care. I don't need you."

But what Gary Oak wouldn't admit, was that he needed Catherine Thorne far more then he would admit. And he cared more about her leaving far more then he would ever tell anyone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ten Years Later**

"Really, Gary? And you've confirmed that it is the activity of a new Pokémon poacher that is skulking around the Sinnoh Pokémon reserve?"

"Definitely grandpa. Nothing else can explain the consistent disappearance of first half of our Tauros herd, and then most of our Fearow flock. Now one by one, our Houndoom and Mightyena packs are dwindling in number as well, not to mention one of her Mamoswine has completely disappeared. And you can't just attribute a gigantic Pokémon like Mamoswine getting lost!" Gary Oak said heatedly from the other line over the video call, and Professor Samuel Oak rubbed his chin, before sighing, finally admitting that his twenty two year old grandson was probably right.

At first, he didn't want to admit that there was another Pokémon poacher roaming the lands, not so soon after they've finally managed to eradicate Hunter J and put her in jail for good. For many years, the police and officials worried about the hunter's existence even after her ship exploded. They wouldn't rest easy until a proper ending was given, and that ending happened just two years earlier, when Ash and his cohorts finally managed to capture and put Hunter J permanently behind bars.

And now what was this? Did that ruthless Pokémon hunter manage to train a protégé while she was down? And Professor Oak couldn't even rely on Ash or any of his friends for help this time either, they having gone off to explore even newer regions of undiscovered lands. "I'll send someone I trust is able to help you over as soon as possible. She's a highly qualified Pokémon researcher, and she concentrates on the habits and behavioral patterns of Pokémon, as well as an ex-Pokémon Ranger. She should be of great help to you."

Gary didn't even manage to say a word as his grandfather cut off the call, leaving the guy's words half muttered as the screen went blank, and the twenty two year old scientist huffed an impatient sigh, running hands through his brunette hair. His gaze switched from the empty screen to an open window, and the worry that lingered constantly was brought forefront again. The sight was peaceful, of his greatly reduced Tauros herd grazing, and a flock of Pidgey just taking flight. But everyone in his research lab knew of the troubles, and none of them could sleep well until it was resolved.

And to make matters worse, the lab just got a Shinx in with a mysterious sickness that none of the Nurse Joy's seem to be able to decipher or solve. While the lab's got the little electric cub holding on with a constant supply of super potions and nutritious vitamins, Gary ached to cure the little thing soon. The worried look in his features only tightened when one of his lab assistants ran up. "Professor! The Shinx…"

His forehead creased, and Gary didn't even need another prompt before he began briskly walking towards the cub's recovery room, hands tucked in to his lab coat. He needed to solve all of it, and he needed to solve it fast.

* * *

"What's with the urgent call, Professor?"

"I need your help. My grandson has run in to some major problems at his lab, and he isn't able to handle them all by himself. Usually, I would ask Tracey to help him, but he's gone off with Ash to some new region, and none of them seem to be contactable."

The girl's features changed for a second, a split second that had Professor Oak frowning in curiosity, before she broke in to an easy-going smile and nodded. "No problem. I'll head to Sinnoh immediately." She chirped up, and the Professor grinned again. He's had her over at his lab a few times, mostly just to borrow his equipment, but he knew Catherine was a responsible girl, who had a bright future as a Pokémon Professor, and he couldn't help but grin approvingly as the dark haired female quickly made her way out of the lab.

But beneath the quirky steps, her features had changed from bouncy to contemplative… a hint of apprehensiveness even, as the glass doors swished to a close behind her. Picking out the Pokeball attached to the belt she wore was automatic, and a flash of red light had her Stapraptor stretching its large wingspan, just before she walked up to him. "I need to get to Sinnoh, Staraptor. Think you can get me there?" she murmured, her smile a little more wistful then before. The question had the bird type's feathers ruffled, and the offended screech he gave had Catherine laughing as she rubbed a hand along the smooth feathers, and then swiftly jumped on.

"Okay then, let's get going." Was her soft command for the Staraptor to take flight in just a couple of swishes of his strong wings. And as the ascended the skies, apprehension only grew within Catherine's chest. It's been ten years; would he still be the same? And more importantly… would he remember?

* * *

The Shinx had suddenly descended in to what the machines seem to detect as a frantic nightmare when Gary had arrived in his room, but with a couple of Soothe Bells and the help of his assistant's Chimecho, it had been put back to its discomforted, but at the very least stable condition. But all of that had happened two days ago, and now Gary stood observing the small amount of Dwebble left scrounging around in the mineral and rocky outlay the team had built for them.

Ever since Ash had returned from Unova, Gary had dedicated a great part of his lab in nurturing and studying the Unova Pokémon he had brought back with him, along with his friends. The rare few Unova Pokémon provided for the lab were prized, and highly protected. The fact that a couple of his Dwebble had gone missing was now beyond frustrating, and sometimes Gary wished he could actually _speak_ to Pokémon, if only to understand where they were going.

If it were any other time, Gary would've gone out to actively search for them. But he couldn't now, not when the Shinx's condition was deteriorating day by day. He even slept over at his office a couple of nights, if only because he fell asleep trying to put together theories, reasons, studying what could be happening to the poor Shinx, but even till now, all his efforts were fruitless. And his team's efforts in protecting the area were equally futile as well, if the missing Dwebble were any indication. Not that he was a man prone to reprimanding his workers, but at this point Gary felt ready to reprimand anyone, as long as his Pokémon on the reserve would stop disappearing.

"And no one saw anything?" he questioned again, voice controlled and leveled. The young intern next to him shakily shook his head, and Gary sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. While he didn't mean to scare the young trainee, he couldn't help it. Frustration was not a pleasant emotion.

"It's fine. Go back and tell them I want to meet them all, in half an hour in the meeting room."

Scuttling off with the instructions, Gary watched the retreating back of his assistant, and then focused his shortening temper at the emptying horizon. Where was that low wit of an assistance his grandfather had promised to send him? Arceus knows he could use some help at about now, but it's been close to three days and there was still no sign of any… ex-Pokémon Ranger, who was supposedly a Pokémon Researcher. Truly at his wit's end, sighs were just about all you heard from Gary Oak these days, as he summoned his Dodrio with a whistle. "Let's go see the rest of the reserves, and just hope that no one else has gone missing, shall we?" the guy finally spoke softly to his Pokémon as he got on, and laughed as he got a loud, rather unladylike screech in return.

* * *

Flying for three days, with only minor breaks for sleep and food in between, was no easy feat. So by the time Staraptor's clawed feet touched the sandy beaches of the Sinnoh region, both trainer and Pokémon were glad at the end of their trip, and Catherine fondly thanked her Staraptor before recalling him for a nice long rest. In its place, a magnificent, gray maned Rapidash was released instead, his diamond hard hooves stomping on the sandy ground as he threw his head regally, glad to be released of its confines. "Hush now, Zeus. I need to get to the research centre, pronto. I'm probably late already, so full speed ahead, alright?" she instructed, and the shiny Rapidash gladly obliged. Headstrong and agile, it took hardly any time at all before they finally got there, and Catherine grinned at the seemingly endless energy her Rapidash had as she descended from his back.

"You don't want to go back in?" Catherine questioned, pausing halfway through pulling his Pokeball out, and the Rapidash's reaction was instantaneous, loudly calling his dislike for being called back in to the Pokeball. And laughingly, Catherine conceded, pushing the ball back in to its catch on her belt, before rubbing her Rapidash's strong neck. "Alright, you go and stretch your legs. But come when I call you, alright?"

With his agreement, the storm colored Pokémon dashed off to race the suns, whilst Catherine entered the seemingly quiet lobby, frowning as she noticed no one around. Didn't Professor Oak tell her the lab was usually full of assistants, all running around to do Gary's bidding? The Professor was visibly proud of his grandson, and Catherine was always amused at his stories of Gary and his innumerable achievements in the Sinnoh region. But whilst Catherine understood that sometimes Professor Oak could perhaps exaggerate his grandson's actions… surely someone must be around to man the counter?

Curious at the emptiness, the girl ventured further forward, and her ears finally picked up voices through a slightly opened door. Heading towards the voices, picking up words was not a problem as she eventually ended up standing in front of the doors.

"What else can be done? We can't just sit back idly while our Pokémon gets taken from under our noses."

"But sir, we've set up midnight watches, even went to check every half an hour ourselves, but we can never notice any disappearance. It isn't until mornings when we do the first feed and check of the day, do we realize something or someone is missing."

"Then we're just not looking hard enough! What time do you check last, before the morning feed?"

"At about 6.30a.m, and then none of us have the time to check for an hour and a half until eight, because we're busy setting up our equipment and Pokémon for the day."

"Then something's happened between that period of time." Catherine finally spoke up, as she pushed her way in. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail for the duration of the flight, and as such her forest green eyes meant everyone else's with a steadfast confidence as she made her proclamation. "And whoever's taking your Pokémon, they know your schedule well, because they only make themselves known during that time."

A murmur of consideration and partly agreement drifted through the masses of scientists and lab assistants seated around the table, but at the same time, curiosity filled each of their gazes as well as they took in the short girl, cladded in denim shorts and a shirt, who did not look like much, but who definitely exuded an aura of confidence that belied her looks. Each of them wondered who she was, but only Gary didn't bother wondering. He _knew_ who she was.

And just the sight of her made the insecurity, feelings of anger and betrayal from ten years ago come flooding back, as he took in her more matured, more developed form. She had changed, but then so had he. But while appearances differ, what he felt for her had never wavered. And what he felt right now, and from ten years ago was exactly the same; that he hated the fact that she had left, that she had betrayed him and his trust by leaving him; that he still found her undeniably attractive and craved for her company, even if he would never admit it. Saying he had never thought about her for the past ten years was a lie, but then again whoever said Gary Oak wasn't averse to a little lie every now and again?

His breath caught in his throat when her eyes met his, and he couldn't decide if he wanted to smile at her or strangle her with his own hands as she grinned at him, and then spoke. "Hey Gary, it's been awhile."


	3. Chapter 3

"Meeting dismissed."

It was a tone none of his lab assistants and researchers has ever heard before, and with a surprised look, each of them slowly slunk out of the room until finally, only the girl was left standing there, each of them at one end of the long table previously filled with occupants. Looking at him, the girl's grin melted away in to one that was anxious and unsure.

"Kitty..."

"Catherine. No one calls me Kitty these days."

"Whatever your name is, who gave you the permission to barge in to my research centre like this?" he questioned, and Kitty couldn't help but wince at the hard edge to his tone. Even back when they were travelling, she's never heard such a tone from him before. Arrogance sure, and even a touch too confident sometimes, but never bitter like this.

But brushing it off, she attempted to be casual as she leaned her hip on the table. "Your grandfather." Her reply had Gary's stormy blue eyes widening as he put two and two together. Blinking, for a second Gary couldn't think of a response at all. _She_ was the one his grandfather had said would help him? Since when was she an ex Pokémon Ranger?

Gary had to admit though, she didn't look worse for wear at all, and he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from her, even if he tried to mask that inability by fixing a permanent scowl on his face. Because he refused to look like he welcomed her presence here. _She _had left _him_. "Gary?" her voice calling his name snapped his train of thoughts, and almost instinctively, he turned to look at her with a questioning gaze, before his brain quickly reminded him to inject a certain amount of disdain in his gaze to mask the fact that he wanted nothing more than to take in every inch of her.

"And you took your own sweet time coming here didn't you?"

"Travelling to Sinnoh takes _time_, oh foolish one. Or did you not know that?" she retorted sarcastically, and then frowned at him. "Why are you behaving like this?"

"Because I don't have the time to deal with people like you."

"People like me? What do you mean?"

_People who would leave without further notice. Who would just up and go and not give a double damn on what happened to him_. Gary fumed silently, his anger and bitterness all coming back the more he looked at her, her features emblazoning themselves in his memory. "Indecisive people like you who would do things without warning." He finally bit out, and for a second, there was nothing but silence in the large room.

Leaving? Just for that moment, Kitty tried to decipher what was he talking about, his words not making sense at all to her. But then, it only took a second for the meaning to sink in, and understanding clicked in her head as her forehead smoothened, and her eyes widened. "You're not still mad at me for leaving you in the middle of your journey, are you?"

"Mad? Why would I be? That just proves how you can be fickle and indecisive, and those are not qualities I need in this lab." came his immediate reply, defensive in its tone as Gary averted his eyes. At that, Kitty gave a curious frown, and then scowled at the guy. "I'll have you know, I'm now a highly favorable Pokémon researcher. If Professor Oak didn't trust my abilities, he would never have sent me here."

"Grandpa doesn't know you at all."

"And you do?" the moment Kitty said that, she regretted her words. Because she knew that at one point in their lives, Gary had been the person who knew the most about her, and vice versa. They had exchanged stories of their lives, their dreams and their desires. It was perhaps part of the reason why Kitty had reacted the way she did, and been so hurt by the fact that he wouldn't understand her need to chase after her own dream of being more in touch with Pokémon, understanding them further.

Apparently, Gary was effected equally by her statement, for a long, pregnant pause filled the room for what seemed like forever, before the brunette male finally swept away from the table in his white lab coat, and stalked towards the door with a scowl. Kitty's eyes trailed his every move, as if it was part instinct for her, but neither of them said a word. It wasn't until he reached the closed doors, hand placed on the doorknob, before he motioned at her.

"Come along then. I'll show you the reason why I need your help. The faster we get this over with, the faster we can get back to our normal lives."

And she flinched inwardly at his words. Normal lives? Was he really that angry with her? While she never expected anything more, at the very least Kitty was hoping she could be friends with him again. Sure, once upon a time she had harbored feelings for more than a friend, but she had saw how Gary Oak was as a guy. He had no end of girls wanting him, and to be honest, Catherine Thorne had no desire to be another in a long list of girls, easily discarded and forgotten. It was perhaps partly why she had moved away from simply being his cheerleader… but she never expected to be treated with such disdain, and it hurt far more then she cared to admit.

"Well are you coming?"

His impatient tone filtered through, and she heaved a sigh to herself. Well, she guessed she partly deserved his attitude now, but at the same time Kitty couldn't help but be disappointed, be it in him, or in herself. "Coming." Her low, heavy reply returned to him, as she hurried after the guy already halfway down the hallway. The whole walk to the front entrance was done in utter silence, but it wasn't till they got to the entrance, did Gary turn to talk to her, his abrupt motion almost making the girl slam in to his body.

Instinctively, Gary moved to catch her by her shoulders, and his first thought was of how tiny she could still be in comparison to him, even after ten years. Despite the long period of time, she still remained consistently half a head shorter than him. But that was all the revelation he got, before she seemed to jerk away from his touch, her skin burning where he had touched. Clearing her throat, she ignored the sensitive way his touch seem to give her, and instead turned inquisitive eyes on Gary, who similarly ignored whatever that had just passed in favor of the business at hand. "I'll give you a tour of our reserve first, so you can familiarize yourself with the grounds and understand how we set up our patrols."

"You've never had a poaching incident before this, have you?"

"Nope. We have Magnemite and Voltorb guarding our perimeter, but other than our Unova region specimens, we don't have anything particularly valuable for hunters at all."

She frowned, looking at the vast land again, before turning back to him. "Has there been any recent influx of Pokémon whose origins are unknown?"

"That was the first thing we checked, but no. Whoever they are, they're taking the Pokémon for their own use." Gary explained, and for the first time ever he got a glimpse of the woman Kitty had grown up to be. And yes, he was still referring to her as Kitty, because Kitty was who he knew, Catherine be damned. Everyone else in the world can call her that, but to him, she would always be Kitty.

Quickly darting his gaze away when he realized he was staring, Gary fought the urge to blush, and instead put on a brisk tone again, all business and official as he picked a pokeball from his waist, and released his regal looking Arcanine. The moment the large Pokémon appeared, Kitty grinned and moved forward to pat the yipping large dog. "Well hello there big guy, I haven't see you in a while." The girl crooned softly, and Gary scowled when he saw his Arcanine acting almost like a puppy in the way he greeted Kitty. Grudgingly though, he always admitted that Kitty had always had an amazing touch with Pokémon.

But disliking the way Arcanine was welcoming her even though it had been _her_ fault for leaving at first, the guy pushed his way to his Pokémon's side, and got on before tugging at his neck pelt a little, a silent indication that he should straighten up and not try to lick Kitty's ankles. "It's a pretty large reserve, so you might want to get on." Gary gruffly said, offering a hand to the girl. Much to his surprise however, she shook her head, and then proceeded to put two fingers in to her mouth to produce a loud, sharp whistle.

Frowning in confusion when nothing happened for a long minute, Gary was just about to pose the question to Kitty when the sound of heavy, pounding hooves began to reverberate. And sure enough, in another short couple of seconds, a Rapidash came pounding up, coming to a stop right next to Kitty. But what got Gary's eyes widening wasn't how the Rapidash was so affectionate with Kitty, nor how he seemed to look in perfect shape, despite the numerous scars available on his four legs, but of how his mane flowed not in normal fiery red, but instead in the colors of a storm cloud.

Instinctively, he reached out to try and touch the manes, only to give a loud yell when the flowing gray fire burnt him upon contact, and Kitty hid a laugh behind her hands. "Do you not know that unless the Pokemon trusts you, a Rapidash's mane will burn you?"

"Of course I do!" Gary retorted indignantly with a sulk. "Just… your Rapidash doesn't have the normal coloring. I'm assuming this _is_ your Rapidash?" Because he would've remembered if he had an oddly colored Rapidash on the reserve. And sure enough, Kitty nodded whilst she leapt on to her equine's back, the fire not disturbing her at all. "Yes, Zeus is mine, and yes he is a shiny. I got him off a trainer who specifically trains his Pokémon for races. Let's just say it's not a pretty sight."

Not a pretty sight? That had Gary confused, but before he could further expound on the topic, Kitty had nudged the Rapidash forward, and Arcanine had begun sedately following after the horse's lead, much to the female's amusement. "Well, I don't know the way around, so shall we get going?"

"Oh, o-of course." The guy quickly agreed, pushing his Arcanine to take the spot ahead of the horse. But occasionally, he couldn't help but let slip his gaze back to look at Kitty, and how the look in her eyes gleamed with true excitement and delight as she took in the sights of the reserve Gary was so proud of, had painstakingly built up himself. He had forgotten how delightful Kitty could look when she was thoroughly passionate about something, and it was one of the many things about the girl that had Gary hooked.

Hooked? He shook that thought out of his head. No. They would finish this assignment amicably, and then they would part ways. Because that was all Gary could and would allow him these days. After all, it was thanks to her that he realized human beings were fickle and indecisive? That no relationship could last very long? She was the sole reason why Gary Oak had had so many relationships, but never a permanent one, and Gary was determined that she would not be the one to change any of that.


	4. Chapter 4

Just for a few short minutes, Kitty could forget that she was now in the vicinity of the person she had feared bumping in to the most for the past ten years, and just enjoy the sights and sounds of the gorgeous reserve she was on. Zeus's storm cloud colored manes not bothering her at all, if anything, the girl had to admit that Gary had done beautifully for himself the past ten years. Whilst she fully expected him to do anything and everything to surpass the rival he had a ridiculous obsession with beating, Kitty was happy to find him enjoying his work now. In fact, she had been a little surprised when she had first began working for Professor Oak, and found out that Gary was in fact working as a researched in Sinnoh. Never had she expected that headstrong, foolhardy boy she used to travel with to be the successful, intelligent scientist he was now. Oh don't get her wrong, Kitty had always believed that he had the intelligence to be whatever he wanted to be, but after their fight just before she had left, she found it difficult to believe that he will do anything but try and conquer all the regions just so he could brag to Ash about it.

But when she looked at him, she saw genuine joy when he did his work, and it was obvious that most, if not all the Pokemon on the reserve knew and was fond of him. Looking at him from the corner of his eye, Kitty couldn't help the soft smile that curved the corner of her lips when she saw Gary reach down to pat the heads of a couple of Girafrig who had wandered up. Their whole ten minute walk so far had been filled with no talk at all, just Gary explaining various sections of the reserve and what his work was so far. But even if so, just the tinge of pride in his words as he explained his lifelong works to her was enough for Kitty to feel her earlier irritation at him ebbing away.

Despite her irritation at him though, she knew why he was acting the way he was with her. It was just that… after ten years, Kitty couldn't believe he still harbored such bitter feelings about her leaving. Part of her would like to think that it was because he cared for her more then he wanted to admit, but the female was a logical one, and she knew that there was no way Gary could feel anything more than friendship for her. So she just assumed that it was because she had cut his pride deeper than anyone else had ever done to the great Gary Oak before.

Quite contrary to her belief though, Gary himself was beginning to admit, to himself at least, that maybe the reason why he still felt so miffed and betrayed by her leaving even after such a long period of time, was that perhaps he cared more than the little he would let on. Looking back at her every so often with the corner of his eye, the guy couldn't deny the fact that despite having all the anger and hurt bubble to the surface again with her reappearance, he's always cared more about her reactions, her thoughts and her feelings more than anyone else's. _Maybe that's why I didn't want her to leave? _The guy mused quietly to himself, and scowled at the thought.

Now was no time to play, he had way too much work to do, and even then, Catherine Thorne was the last person he would want anything to do with. To himself, he said that it was because she was far from the most suited girl for him. But deep inside, he knew that he was just afraid of history repeating itself. So even if he felt himself inexplicable drawn to her, undeniably attracted to her even after the many years between them, Gary Oak would never allow himself to act on them.

The plod of the Arcanine's large paws were matched by the solid beats of the Rapidash's hooves on the terrain, but it wasn't till they reached the Unova Pokemon reserves, did Gary finally hear a little squeak of reaction from her. By the time he turned from his seat atop his Arcanine, Kitty had already slide off Zeus's back to go running towards the first corral holding a couple of Bidoof. The joy on her face was something Gary had forgotten he took pleasure in seeing, and a sight that he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away, even as she crouched down next to the thigh-high fencing and reached in to pat a particularly friendly Bidoof.

Finally snapping out of it, Gary inwardly berated himself again as he got off, and walked towards her with what he hoped was a wry grin on his features. "What, haven't you seen the Unova region Pokemon before?"

"Actually, I haven't. I recently finished my research upon behavioral patterns of flying types and how they vary across breed as well as the habitat their brought up in. That took me all of two years, since there are flying types scattered all across the three regions, and I've been taking a year off, so I haven't had the chance to thoroughly study Unova region Pokemon yet." Her explanation was length, but Gary eagerly drank in every word, information about her something he hadn't heard in a long time.

"What were you doing before then?"

"After I…. I've worked as a Ranger for five years, that was where my interest in habitats and behavioral patterns came from." The initial pause had been pregnant, a topic both of them had been avoiding, and a topic Gary had no wish to pick up now. So when Kitty had let it slide, he allowed it, and moved to stand next to her as she straightened up.

"Well, you can start now. Ever since Ash returned from Unova, we've been asking for specimens from Professor Juniper, in exchange for our own specimens. They are high fascinating, actually, and some of them differ quite significantly from our own Pokemon."

"Really?" she exclaimed in excitement, and Gary couldn't help but laugh at how she suddenly appeared much younger then she looked with the excitement making her green eyes bubble. Nodding, he motioned for her to follow him, before venturing further on foot in to the small part of his reserve dedicated for the mysterious but fascinating Unova Pokemon.

"Their species are varied and different, none of which are similar to our own Pokemon. But surprisingly, some of them do share the same habits as ours do. Take Emolga, for example." He explained, and stopped in front of a tall, imposing oak tree. There, Gary looked up and gave a sharp whistle, and within seconds, the tree's rustled, before a white, yellow and black creature that seemed highly similar to a squirrel dropped on to his shoulder, much to Kitty's delight.

Taking the flying squirrel up by the body, Gary presented the creature to Kitty, and grinned when the Emolga chittered and immediately began scuttling around her shoulders and neck, causing the girl to giggle and laugh as she examined the flying squirrel with inquisitive eyes. "That's Emolga, and she's the only one we have on the reserve. She's an electric type, and we've been comparing her to the Pachirisu we have. They're surprisingly similar, considering how they're both electric types and of the squirrel species."

"She's a flying type?"

"Observant."

"I spent two years studying them, Gary. You would expect me to know a flying type with my eyes closed." Kitty responded with sarcasm, and the brunette scientist couldn't help but laugh at the familiar tone that was almost signature to the female's sarcasm.

"Yes, she is actually. She's a dual type, but they're not really capable of flying long, more like hovering in the air."

At that moment, the Emolga chose to chitter noisily from Kitty's shoulder, and jump from her shoulder to Gary's, and then back to the girl's before leaping up from there to go back to the lowest hanging branch. The branch still was quite a ways up from her shoulder though, and due to the height, the Emolga had to use quite a bit of force to get up there. The force from the squirrel's jump had Kitty stumbling, and would've fallen had Gary not caught her by her arm just as the black and white squirrel disappeared within the foliage.

For a long pause, the two froze in position, with Gary's fingers gripping tightly on to her arm, before the two suddenly broke apart with a sheepish grin, averting each other's gaze whilst Kitty nervously brushed off her sleeve and gave a shaky laugh. "She's… she's strong isn't she." She finally said in an attempt to break the silence, and Gary gave a sheepish laugh in return, and nodded. "Quite. But she's more skittish than anything, and quite prone to random acts."

"I can see that." She replied wryly, and the two shared a laugh before continuing on the tour of the reserve. The rest of the tour passed by fairly uneventfully, a time which both Kitty and Gary were glad they could slip back in to normal banter. In fact, by the end of the trip, the girl was quite glad it seemed almost normal between the two of them when they returned to meet both Arcanine and Zeus at the entry to the Unova reserve.

"But Gary… this isn't the only reason Professor Oak sent me to help you, is it?"

"… No. It isn't." Gary replied, as they got on their respective rides. As if contemplating on what to say for a second, Kitty stared at him whilst she watch his thoughtful frown crease his forehead, before he turned and gave her a rather tight smile. "Come on then, I'll show you the other problem that my lab has to deal with now."

* * *

Entering the lab, Kitty had to admit she hadn't felt the way she had for a long time. When Gary handed her the lab coat, he couldn't help but give her a wry grin, easily recognizing the way she felt a little out of place in the confined walls. Gary had always been able to pick out the slightest of change in her mood, tuned to how she felt and what she felt in a way no one ever was before, not even her own brother, who still resided in Olivine with their parents. But like Gary, Kitty too was quite in tuned with the guy's own thoughts, and she recognized his wry look easily, and flashed a sheepish grin as she shrugged on the white lab coat, pulling her ponytail out of the way.

"I haven't worked in a lab for a long time. I prefer field work, honestly. With how accident prone I am, I'm more likely to break specimens and lose reports."

At her reminded, Gary laughed. More often than not, they've always had some form of accident involving Kitty breaking a plate or dropping something or even closing a door on her finger, that accidents and her name had become synonymous. So when she admitted to being more field work and on hands then being a lab researcher, Gary couldn't say he was surprised.

"Point taken." He murmured, when the laughter finally subsided and he began leading her to the pair of closed doors. It was at this point, that his tone and expression became more serious. "But I don't have a choice. This Pokemon _needs_ to stay in the lab for a fighting chance at survival."

His tone made her breathe catch, and for the first time, Kitty could see how genuinely serious Gary was about his work. But when the doors opened, all thoughts of that flew out the window, and her heart melted the instant she saw the tiny figure of the Shinx laid out on the operating table, with numerous wires connected to it, and a row of potions and antidotes at the ready and lined up behind it.

"Oh, Gary." Kitty murmured at first, quite at loss of what to say. Following the brunette's lead, she walked up to the table, and gasped when she saw just how pale the electric cub was, with its eyes closed and the beat of its heart on the monitor weak and fluttering. "What's wrong with it?"

"We don't know." He replied his tone tight and filled with worry and controlled frustration Kitty easily picked up. Standing just a little behind her as she stood directly next to the table, his gaze was fixed on the sleeping Shinx. "We found him one day on the edges of our reserve, with nothing physically wrong. But everything we've done could not revive him, and none of the potions, antidotes or berries work. Even Nurse Joy can't find anything wrong with him. We've tried everything, and nothing works."

"We think that perhaps, the Shinx had wandered too far away from the reserve and ended up contracting some form of weird, unknown disease that we have not found a cure for yet. He's got all kinds of symptoms, but nothing that is definite or concrete for us to pinpoint one particular cure. And we don't know how much time we have."

With every syllable, Kitty could detect how anxious and tense Gary was, and turning over her shoulder to look at him, her heart went out to him when she saw how nervous his features for. Instinctively, she reached out to lay a comforting hand on his arm. "You're the smartest guy I know Gary, and if anyone could do it, you can." She murmured, and then flashed him a weak, but cheeky grin. "And I'm horribly smart too, aren't I?"

Despite the circumstances, Gary couldn't help but give a wry laugh as he looked at her. "Yes, yes you are your Highness." He replied dryly, and Kitty widened her grin at him, before she turned back to look at the sleeping Shinx again, the beeping of the machines only underlining how serious his condition was. "And I don't believe that we can't do a thing to help this little guy."


	5. Chapter 5

The room that was semi-lit and filled with beeping machines was quiet despite two humans in it, but the two were so engrossed in their own work, they barely had time to speak to each other. The brunette male was bent over the sleeping Shinx, occasionally fidgeting with a wire or two, and then bringing a finger to test the Shinx's heart rate. The dark haired female on the other hand, busied herself reading the chards that documented the Shinx's daily life, his medications and attempts at treatment that the lab has been trying on the creature ever since its arrival a week ago. It wasn't until the door was pushed open, and a blonde bespectacled female poked her head in, did the two look up, surprised at how easily half an hour could pass while they both were working in silence.

"Hey Gary, lunch? You promised you would buy me lunch today!"

Kitty raised a brow, and her eyes switched to a sheepish looking Gary when she noted the rather flirtatious tone in the blonde's words. Obviously, whoever the golden haired girl was, she hadn't even noticed Kitty's presence in a corner of the room. It wasn't till Gary moved to stand closer to Kitty, did the female recognize a glimmer of surprise at the intruder's eyes when she finally noticed Kitty's presence.

"Probably not today, Trixie. I have a lot of work to do, and I still need to show Kitty around."

"Nice to meet you." Kitty automatically responded with a nod of her head, whilst she marked a spot in the folder and returned it to the work table. "I'm Catherine Thorne, Pokemon Researcher from Kanto. Professor Oak sent me over to help Gary with Shinx and the poaching going around here." While her tone had been genial, Kitty grew more and more apprehensive at the wary, even pinched look Trixie was beginning to wore, especially with how close Gary stood next to her.

"But you need lunch too, don't you?" the blonde insisted, almost as if Kitty hadn't even spoken. The dark haired one blinked in surprise at the dismissal, but it was Gary who was put on the spot, as he fell wordless for a second. "I-"

"I know! Why don't I show Miss Catherine around, while you finish up your work here, and then we can go for lunch?" Trixie suggested, her tone for the entire world sounding as if she had just solved life's mysteries. Gary rubbed his brunette head, and finally gave a laugh that Kitty recognized to be one he gave when he was at his wits end. "Alright… I guess. Show her to her office would you? It's the one adjacent to mine. And Kitty, would you-"

"Alright! Will do! Let's go Miss Catherine!" Trixie exclaimed loudly, before Gary could even finish his sentence, and the male scientist was left there standing, blinking and bewildered at what had just transposed.

Kitty on the other hand, was being shuffled down the hallway, a little amused smirk playing on her lips. The girl was quite sure Gary was about to invite her to lunch as well, but what was more astute to Kitty's sharp senses, was how Trixie seemed to whisk her away before Gary could fully verbalize the invitation. And now, Trixie was going off on five different spiels about the various work and departments available around the lab, pointing out places such as the cafeteria and lounge room, yet all the while Kitty could only regard the girl with amusement. While she did come off as a little ditzy and airheaded, and if you discounted how briskly she acted with Kitty earlier while they were still in the room with Gary, the blonde lab assistant looked quite the nice person.

Except, of course the fact that a blind person could see that she had a crush on Gary. Oh how dense her old friend was.

Ignoring the twinge of unease at the fact that despite changing professions, Gary still had a number of girls who would fall at his feet, the girl smiled at Trixie when she finally stopped in front of a closed oaken door. "This would be your office. Gary's office is right down the hallway to the right." She introduced, and Kitty grinned, and then fell silent as she regarded Trixie for a moment. "He's a good boss, isn't he?"

"The best we could ever ask for. All the lab workers and scientist think Gary is a brilliant person!"

"I know." Kitty replied softly, her smile a little wistful. She had told him that, many years ago, and she was proud now that he was living up to what he was capable of. But a part of her mourned the fact that they couldn't have embarked on this journey together, working together. "Gary's trained me for five years now, and I can't wait for the day he deems me suitable to work at my own lab."

"You sound promising Trixie, I look forward to working with you." Kitty replied genially, and then sighed as the girl ran off. She was a nice girl, a girl Gary would've been proud to call his own. And Kitty admitted to herself, that she had no business being here. The past was the past, and whatever had happened or whatever that was brewing between them was dead and gone when Kitty had decided to leave Gary back then. She recognized the fact that she had no right or hold over him now… but a part of her still ached as she watched the vanishing back of Trixie, before proceeding in to what was supposedly serving as her office.

Lights revealed a regular sized room, furnished with a table and high backed chair. A computer sat at one end of the table, and Kitty unhooked her belt from her shorts to hang it on the hooks behind the door, before advancing further in to study the cupboard of books. Fingers drew lightly across the table, and she gave a soft smile, before reaching for her belt, and releasing a lavender colored feline in a flash of light.

"This is going to be our home for the next couple of months Espeon, like it?" Kitty murmured softly, and affectionately rubbed her psychic type's head as the Espeon purred loudly, and leapt up nimbly to quickly claim a spot on her table as her own. "Espeon… do you think it was a good idea for me to have left last time?"

The psychic Eeveelution meowed, tail lashing as Kitty absentmindedly stroked her head. Her eyes focused on a spot in the wall, but the wall was the last thing on her mind as her mind flew back to ten years ago, second guessing her every action and decision. If she had stayed, if she hadn't been so adamant about chasing what she dreamed of doing, instead of staying with the one person who had made her happier then she's ever known, would things have been different?

* * *

Trixie was a nice girl, and Gary saw potential in the young aspiring scientist to know that she would one day be a researcher that would be both intelligent and promising. Usually, he enjoyed her company, and he had promised her lunch because she had been an amazing help in rounding up their herd of angry Hippowdown a week ago. But right now, his thoughts kept flitting back to Kitty, and wondering how was she fitting in to the new environment, so much so that he couldn't even concentrate on whatever Trixie was rambling on about.

It wasn't till her voice finally broke through his imaginative haze, did Gary snap to attention, and then flash a sheepish grin at Trixie when she waved a hand in front of his eyes. "What's the matter today?" her curious question came, but unwilling to tell her that a certain new dark haired researcher was taking up his attention today, Gary just shook his head and deflected the question whilst he sipped his coffee.

For a while, it seemed as if Trixie was going to let the topic slide as silence fell, but Gary knew better then to hope for such, and sure enough, a minute later, Trixie spoke up with a question. "You didn't just meet Miss Catherine today, did you?"

"Astute as ever, Trixie." Gary relented with a dry laugh, replacing his mug on the table. "No, I didn't. I knew Kitty from a long time ago, back when I was still a young and reckless trainer." The words brought back a flood of memories, of days where he could spend hours with her. Training was always more enjoyable with Kitty around. Whilst the rest of his cheerleaders would make up the most inane rhymes that made him wish they would cheer for his grandfather instead, Kitty actually gave him insightful tips and suggestions to improve his battle tactics.

Trixie must have seen the look in his eyes, for she fell silent, eyes fall to glance at her perfectly manicured fingers, before looking up at Gary, hope in her eyes her way of trying to convince herself that she still had a fighting chance… if only she could prove herself. "Hey Gary, I just finished my report on the Lumineon school. Do you want to see it?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I'll bring it up to your office?" Trixie suggested in an excited tone, and Gary couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm, nodding before she took off to grab her report. Moving at a more sedate pace, the brunette scientist picked up his discarded lab coat, and headed towards the elevators to move up two floors. On the landing where his office was, just before he entered the room, the guy threw his glance down, and uncertainty wavered within him when he noticed the office he had assigned to Kitty open, a soft murmur of what he recognized as her voice coming from there.

Debating with himself for a while on whether or not to go to her, Gary ended up deciding against it, and pushed the door to his office open, and entered the place which had been his sanctuary for the past ten or so years. It was a place where he felt truly comfortable at, his mahogany table and book cupboard full of research papers and resources familiar sights to him. Falling in to his leathered seat, Gary leaned his head back to the plush surface, eyes closed as a wave of familiar weariness caught him. For a full minute, peace and silence reigned, and Gary almost fell asleep when a knock on his door woke up, and the guy jumped awake just as Trixie strolled in with a paper.

Her excited grin had Gary laughing, never failed to be amaze at just how much energy for the job his protégé had. Picking up the paper without a word, silence was taunt, anxiousness on Trixie's part whilst Gary studied her latest paper, and she only breathed a sigh of relief when a grin finally broke on the scientist's lips, whilst he handed the paper back to her. "Great work. Keep this up and you'll be able to set up your own research facility in no time."

"Awesome! Thank's Gary!" she responded, and as if it came from a sudden burst of joy and enthusiasm, the girl leapt to give Gary a hug. Caught a little offguard, nevertheless, Gary had always been rather close to Trixie after working with her for five years, so he returned the hug after the initial surprise.

What he didn't expect however, was his door to swing open as Kitty came rushing in with an excited "Hey Gary, you think I coul-", the rest of her sentence paused midway, her running feet almost screeching in to a stop when her eyes took in the embrace between Trixie and Gary.

Quickly, Gary pushed Trixie away and sheepishly laughed, but whilst he knew he didn't mean anything by it, for someone who had walked in on it, the scene could be misconstrued in a hundred different ways, yet each of them leading to pretty much the same conclusion. And the picture had dashed Kitty's heart deeper then she wanted to admit, because for a good looking scientist and a blonde haired beauty together, they had made a striking pair.

But stubborn and prideful, instead of letting her hurt show, Kitty instead plastered a smile on her face as she backed out. "Oops! Sorry, looks like I intruded. Please continue, I'll come and tell Gary my suggestion later." She said with a grin, and a wave of her hand, before shutting the door behind her. But what she forgot, was that despite the many years between them, Gary still knew her and was in tuned with her like the back of his hand, and he could sense the slight waver of hurt and discomfort beneath her uttered words.

"Sorry Trixie, I'll go see what she wants. Go back to the lab and continue your work alright?" Gary murmured, his gaze never once flickering over to Trixie as he immediately went after the dark haired female. So of course, he wouldn't have noticed first the hurt, and then the anger that had took place upon Trixie's features.


	6. Chapter 6

"Kit! Slow down would you!"

Catching her by her wrist, Gary finally managed to stop the fleeing Kitty midway back to her room, and he leaned against his knees catching his breath for a minute or so, before speaking. "Before you jump to any harebrained conclusions, let me first clarify that you were intruding nothing. Trixie's my protégé, she was just thanking me for something."

She remained silent for a while, the moment that felt like an eternity to Gary as neither said anything, before finally turning around. What had Gary blinking in surprise though, was how she had a grinned plastered on her face, and a laugh to accompany it as she gently pulled her wrist out from his hold. "Who said I was getting any harebrained conclusions?"

"Then why did you run out?"

"I did no running! All I did was back out because I didn't want to intrude!" she retorted hotly, the grin slipping in to an irritated look.

"You weren't intruding!"

"Well it sure looked like I was!"

By then, tempers were running high in between the two of them, and Kitty crossed her arms to glare at Gary, a glare that was returned full blast. The tension was so thick within the air as the two got in to a glaring match, until Gary finally gave in and squeezed his eyes shut, heaving a heavy sigh. "Fine. Drop it. I don't care." He murmured, rubbing his temples before turning a tired pair of eyes on Kitty. "Now what was it you were looking for me for?"

Still irritated, Kitty wore a mutinous look on her features as she considered for a long second on whether or not she wanted to reply the scientist. But the to be honest, Kitty didn't even know where the irritation came from. Perhaps it came from the scene she had accidentally walked in on, or maybe it was just because she knew she couldn't do anything, simply because Trixie was so nice, or maybe it was because she _couldn't_ do anything, because she had no right to? Either way, the whole situation rubbed Kitty the wrong way, and every instinct in her body rebelled against it.

Finally though, the girl decided inwardly that the Shinx was more important at this point in time, and gave in and replied. "I have an idea, that maybe we can get a Psychic Pokémon to communicate with Shinx on a telepathic level."

"Like Sabrina?" Gary asked in surprise, referring to the Saffron city gym leader. Kitty nodded in response. "Yeah, except our Pokemon will do the communicating, and then tell us."

"Pretty good idea… but none of the Psychic Pokémon on the reserve, or owned by any of us are of the level enough to do that."

"That's why I'm here." Kitty replied, and flashed Gary a cheeky grin, a grin that had managed to make him grin every time, and a sight he admitted he missed dearly. He got so distracted in trying to memorize and store that grin of hers for future reference, he almost missed her tossing a Pokeball in the air, and revealing a sleek, well groomed Espeon who purred as she appeared.

"Espeon? Your…"

"Yes, my old Eevee." Kitty confirmed with a grin. Before Gary could go any further though, a flash of light came from his pocket, and his Umbreon chirped happily as he bounded up to his old friend, and Kitty grinned, laughing lightly as the two greeted each other, old playmates from when they had both been Eevee's. "Looks like you're not the only one who remembers, Gary."

"Of course not. Umbreon loved playing with your Eevee back then."

"Remember how I used to tie a purple ribbon around mine's neck to tell the difference?"

"And how we used to call them E1 and E2?"

The two laughed at the old memories, but when their eyes met over the two squealing and reuniting Eeveelutions, Kitty immediately averted her eyes, looking down instantly as her dark hair flopped forward, effectively covering the faint tint of red that dusted her cheeks. Again, silence reigned between the two, before Kitty finally gave a nervous laugh, as she bent down to pick up her Espeon, despite the lavender feline's protests as she tried to get to her friend.

Kity needed the Espeon though, more as a buffer against Gary then anything, and so she hugged the Espeon tighter, enough of a signal for the Psychic type to know that her mistress had good reason for holding her there. Falling silent, Kitty took a deep breath before grinning up at Gary. "So, what do you think? Worth a shot?"

Gary shrugged, and nodded. "Why not." He murmured, and began leading the way towards the Shinx's hold room. All the way there however, he couldn't help but throw occasional looks at Kitty behind him, who was busy murmuring to her Espeon to notice what he was doing. Whilst her grins were intoxicating enough, he couldn't help but wonder if half of them were put on… a façade to hide… what, exactly?

God knows, he was using his I'm-should-show-you-around excuse to spend as much time as possible with her, but if Gary didn't know better, he would've thought she was using her Pokemon, the Shinx, anything if possible to _not_ spend time with him. And for what? He didn't detect any animosity from her, but at the same time he didn't know _what_ to expect from her either.

Giving up on trying to figure out the inner workings of a women's mind, he pushed the button to open the sliding door, and Kitty's Espeon slinked out of her arms, touched noses with Gary's Umbreon for a second, before nimbly leaping up on to the table that held the Shinx. Carefully, the lavender feline avoided the wires connected to the electric type, before finally settling on her haunches right at the head of the Shinx.

"Now, listen carefully if you can hear what the Shinx tries to tell you, alright?" Kitty's voice softly commanded, and her Espeon nodded, forked tail curling around her paws as she purred, before her onyx eyes closed.

In seconds, the red gem on her head glowed, and the silence within the room palpable as the two humans observed the Espeon at work. For what seemed like an eternity, the red gem on the Espeon's head seemed to be the only thing alive in the room, for other than the soft breathing you could hear from the two humans, nothing else in the room moved. And then finally, the lavender feline's eyes opened, and Kitty quickly stepped up to her Espeon, bending down to the Pokemon as she deciphered what the Espeon tried to tell her.

"Captured… by poachers?"

The Espeon shook her head, and purred loudly, flicking her tail in to the shape of an R.

"Team Rocket?"

The Espeon shook her heard again, purred loudly as she pawed at her trainer. Kitty frowned for a second, and then hazarded a guess. "Like Team Rocket, but not that particular team. They're some form of an organization?"

Gleefully, the Psychic type nodded, and continued on her tale.

"Being tested… like a lab experiment. Many other Pokemon… he was stubborn and managed to escape, but they had managed to inject him with the test serum before he got free." Kitty slowly made sense of the words, all while Gary stood back and listened quietly. When she got to that part though, he frowned. "Do you think the rest of our poaching had something to do with this?"

Straightening up, Kitty regarded the sleeping Shinx thoughtfully whilst her Espeon jumped down to rejoin the Umbreon on the ground. "Possibly. Though if so, I shudder to think what's happening to the Pokemon in whatever place they've taken them to."

At that reminder, Gary's features tightened, and a poignant silence passed over them, before he spoke again. "Either way, we have to make Shinx better again. Espeon, was there any indication as to what's wrong with him?"

"Espeon says that the serum is still in the Shinx's blood cycle, and every cycle eats up its power. It's nothing more than a draining serum, but its draining Shinx's life force with every minute, so unless we can fully recover it, it doesn't matter how many potions we force Shinx to drink, it won't work."

"Well, that explains why none of our Potions and Antidote seemed to have been working. But where are we going to find something to recover Shinx's life force?" Gary mused, and then sighed. "Guess its back to the books. But at least now we have something concrete to work on. Thanks."

Kitty returned the smile he offered, and then suddenly grew self-conscious again as she quickly picked up her Espeon once more. "Thank Espeon. I wouldn't have been able to do anything without her." The Espeon however, gave a disgruntled mew, a sound which made Kitty wince behind the furry feline's pelt, as Gary laughed at the look on the Eeveelution's face.

* * *

The chirping of bug type Pokemon coupled with the glow of a full moon were the only things accompanying Kitty as she sat hunched over her work table, its surface filled with scattered, opened books, and ten or so browser tabs opened on her screen as her eyes flicked from one to another. The rest of the world had long since went to bed, and even her Espeon slept soundly on the claimed corner of the table, but the bespectacled Kitty sat wide-eyed and awake as she read furiously through the material she had researched.

Ever since Espeon had uncovered a little of the detail they needed from the Shinx, Kitty hadn't stopped going through any and every single material she could find, in an effort to find something that could help restore Shinx's life force and find a way to drain out the remaining serum in his body. At this point, other than doing a complete blood transfusion, Kitty could see no other way out, but with Shinx's condition, a complete blood transfusion might prove extremely dangerous indeed.

So with her glasses perched on her nose, hair pulled up in a ponytail, and dressed in her most comfortable shorts and shirt, Kitty had proceeded to work well in to the night after a quick dinner of mac and cheese she had purchased from the lab cafeteria.

Occasionally, her neck would crick, and her back would crack as she straightened, but other than these small movements, Kitty remained where she was. It wasn't until she ran in to a dead end with none of her material able to continue on its information, did she finally get off her seat with a frown.

Ruffling through a couple more of her materials, her brain suddenly clicked when she remembered having seen it earlier in the common library down the hall, and moved to get it. However when she finally got out of her office, a light from an office not too far off from hers caught her attention, the light spilling from an ajar door, a door that Kitty soon realized led to Gary's office.

Her brows furrowed in confusion, as she checked the time, and then double checked it in surprise. "Its already 7? Great, I didn't get any sleep at all." The girl grumbled to herself, and then found herself heading towards Gary's office. In her head, she reasoned to herself that she was just curious as to whether or not Gary had stayed the whole night like she did, or was it just an early day in the office. But she knew deep inside her, that she simply was attracted to him like metal was to magnet. She had never been able to say no to him, even from the very first day she met him. Why else would she, a girl independent and determine to carve her own niche in the world, agree to be in his cheerleading team?

Well, part of her had been baffled she guess, by how Gary would ask her, instead of accepting one of the many other girls clamoring to follow him around on his journey. But in the end, she had accepted. At the same time though, Kitty had refused to simply be another one of his squealing fan girls, so she had denied falling in to a stereotype and acting like the rest of the cheerleaders would.

But in the end, she had more than enough of such a life, and had left. There was nothing more she felt harder to leave behind then Gary though, but that was information she would keep till her dying day.

Pushing the door opened slowly, she stepped in to the brightly lit office, only to feel her heart soften when she saw the sight of Gary sleeping sprawled across his desk. His papers were scattered, brunette locks mussed up and lab coat draped over his chair as his chest rose and fell with his even breathing. With a soft smile, the girl bent to pick up the papers fallen on the ground, and then stood up again to survey the scene with a gentle pair of eyes.

It was a familiar one, but not one she saw often. Occasionally, Gary's travelling cheer squad would be unable to find a Pokemon Centre to bunk in for the night, and they would have no choice but to sleep under the stars. But again, unlike the rest of the cheerleaders, Kitty had absolutely no qualms in sleeping on the ground as the rest of the girls did. And it was always on one of these nights that she and Gary would end up talking till they fell asleep.

Unable to resist herself, she stood closer, and her heart constricted when she saw the unassuming, sleeping features of one Gary Oak. He had always been her weakness, the one person who always seemed to clung on to her like a leech even when she had tried to forget him until in the end, Kitty just stopped trying and let her mind go rampant on wondering just what had happened to Gary.

Never had she imagined she would be working with him ten years down the road.

Placing his papers on a corner of the table, she reached out to brush a stray strand of brown hair that had fallen over his eyes, when a loud siren suddenly shocked the whole building to life, causing Kitty to jump backwards as Gary jerked awake, his eyes wide and alert.

"What's happening?" she yelled at him over the loud noise, and he didn't even note the fact that she was in his office at an unearthly hour as he yanked her wrist and ran out whilst yelling "Poachers!"


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry this took forever, I was dealing with finals and moving back home! xD

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The scene that greeted Kitty, whilst familiar, was not one that she was used to. Working as a Ranger for a number of years, the female had gotten used to watching emergency procedures, but nothing like what the lab was going through. You could see lab assistants and researchers taking off on Dodrio's and Ponyta's from different directions, as well as Fearow's being sent in to the sky for aerial assistance. Standing off a corner, for the first time in a while, Kitty felt quite out of place and useless, that is until she felt a hand grip her arm and yank at her.

"Well, aren't you coming?" Gary asked as he pulled her towards his Dodrio. At a loss for words, and perhaps partly due to the need for speed and manpower in such a situation, Kitty could only mutely nod at his question, and get on the tri-headed bird's back. The female was left with little to no time to realize that she could easily take her Rapidash, before Gary's steed quickly took off, leaving her with little choice but to quickly cling to the male scientists' shirt or risk being thrown off from the sheer speed at which the Dodrio was running.

Throughout the trip, Kitty saw researchers gathering up groups of Pokemon, counting and double-checking to make sure of their numbers, but within seconds, the female could recognize immediately where they were heading. Easily jumping off as the reached the edge of the Unova pokemon enclosure, the girl's steps were kept even with Gary's as they ran towards the Pokemon. But in no time at all after Gary had rounded up all the Unova pokemon to make sure of the numbers, even Kitty knew which one was missing.

"Emolga should be able to fly away from whoever took her right?" Kitty tried to reason, but even she knew that was a fat chance. Gary wasted no time in shooting down her suggestion with a wry look. "Emolga's a flying type yes, but remember what I said about her hovering more then flying? If they managed to get her, she has about as much chance of getting away as any other Pokemon."

"But the Shinx did!"

"That Shinx was incredibly intelligent. But I'm still going to try and see what I can do about Emolga." Gary muttered, and for the first time in a while, Kitty felt as if she had been placed in the backburner as Gary turned to his walkie talkie and spoke through the crackling receiver, his voice brisk and businesslike as he issued out orders and commands whilst double checking on all of the Unova Pokemon. Watching him, Kitty could help but give a small smile as she compared the current Gary to the one that she had left ten years ago, and was unable to stop the way her heart gave a sudden jerk. He was responsible now, and much more level headed.

Shaking her head to get rid of the sudden daydream-like, embarrassing thoughts that Kitty would never admit she had thought of, the girl immediately decided that she wasn't going to be completely useless. Afterall, being a Ranger as well as a Pokemon researcher, she could do _something_ right? Besides, Professor Oak had sent her here to help, not act as a decorative piece. Quickly reaching for her belt, Kitty released a vicious looking, scarred Houndoom who tossed his head and scraped at the ground the moment he was let out.

At the same time, Gary had finished his instructions and turned back to face Kitty, only to give a start when her Houndoom started growling at him. Moving forward, the female placed a calming hand on the hound's head, and then flashed a sheepish grin in Gary's direction. "Sorry about that. Cerberus is wary to humans. His previous owners flogged him because he wasn't a good enough fighting Pokemon, which was the initial reason they had breeded him for."

"So why did you bring him out?"

"Because what said previous owners didn't recognize, was that instead of brute and brawn, Cerberus specializes in tracking. He's an amazing tracking dog, and he can help us find Emolga." Kitty explained with a final smile, before crouching down to murmur a couple of choice words to her Houndoom. Gary was distracted by the scars and numerous marks left on the Houndoom's legs and back, but when Kitty finally stood up and led the fire/dark type to the tree where Emolga left, the brunette male scientist could do no more than blink in surprise as the Houndoom picked up a scent, and then begin following a trail only he could pick on.

"Well, coming?" the voice of the female shook him out of his reverie, and Gary fished his conscience out from marveling at just how well Kitty had turned out to dumbly nod his head, hurrying after the tracking Houndoom. "So how did you chance upon Cerberus?" Gary couldn't help but asking. In the distance, the guy could hear the commotion dying down, as no one else had discovered any Pokemon missing. In the back of his mind, the guy figured he should probably get word back to his assistants about the missing Emolga, but then quickly decided that perhaps he should at least try and follow the trail the Houndoom was picking up on first, before doing anything.

"I was patrolling my region as a Ranger, when I heard the whines of a Houndoom. I saw Cerberus being locked in a small cage, not big enough for him to even straighten up. And he looked like he hadn't been fed in days." The girl said, her eyes fond as they trained on her Houndoom ahead. "I couldn't not take him."

"Aren't rangers not allowed to keep Pokemon?"

"Usually, they aren't. We're all allowed a partner Pokemon, but not one that battles. Cerberus is one of the reasons why I left the Ranger Union, because I couldn't not keep him. He refuses to leave me, but at the same time I can't stop him from battling either, its in his blood." She paused, and then shrugged with an amused grin. "He just doesn't really excel at it." Kitty laughed when she heard her Houndoom give a disgruntled growl, but had no other outward reaction to it, knowing full well harming her was the last thing Cerberus would do.

Gary chuckled at the Houndoom's reaction, but the sound of joy died off when a cave began to loom in the direction the Cerberus was bringing them. "That's the cave where we house our bat Pokemon, and the Pokemon that prefer to dwell in caves. They are a warren under the grounds, and could take days to navigate." Gary explained in response to Kitty's questioning look.

"Don't you have a map or something of the place?"

"We're usually led by one of the Pokemon within, but they've all been called out. And even they don't know the whole network of connecting passages underneath. It's a veritable labyrinth." Stopping at the mouth of the cave, the two wore identical expressions of worry as they stared at the massive gaping black hole, under the Houndoom suddenly gave a bark, and then pawed at Kitty's feet. Taking a minute to interpret what her hound was trying to tell her, Kitty finally nodded and turned to Gary. "Cerberus says he can lead us in and out. We can't just leave without trying to find Emolga."

"Please Gary, _I _can't leave, not when we're so near!"

Finally giving in with a sigh and a ruffle of his hair, the guy looked at Kitty with a wry look from the corner of his eyes, and then rolled them. "Fine. But we're leaving the moment I think its too dangerous." Agreeing with an enthusiastic nod, the two quickly pressed on with Cerberus in the lead, snout pressed to the ground and occasionally sniffing the atmosphere. The darkness quickly swallowed them, and before long the only source of light they had was a torch Gary had brought in his pocket, along with the leading Houndoom, their only source of direction since Kitty had long since lost track of where they were.

Suddenly, a crash sounded from behind them, and the two humans gave a start and turned backwards immediately, eyes wide as they tried to identify the noise that was beginning to fade away. "M-Maybe just some loose rocks. And… someone walking above, yeah?" Gary shakily reasoned, and Kitty quickly nodded, taking a fortifying breathe before proceeding to ask her Houndoom to continue. Before the female researcher could even get the words out of her mouth though the boom sounded again, louder this time.

But the two didn't have long to wait this time. Within seconds, an angry Steelix rounded the bend, driving the two in to a panic as they quickly took off running, Cerberus along at Kitty's heels whilst they tried to get away from the rampaging, enraged Steelix. "Why is it so angry!" Kitty couldn't help but ask as they ran, pushing on despite protesting muscles and aching limbs.

"Maybe it got disrupted from its sleep by our sirens and alarms!"

"Either way, we're screwed if we don't do something!"

They continued running, taking any turn and twist they came by in their attempts to lose the Steelix, but to no avail. Surprisingly quick for a Pokemon its size, the Steelix came crashing at them until finally the two reached a dead end, out of breathe and complete exhausted, and was flooded with a sense of impending doom as they watched the Steelix hurtle towards them.

But to everyone's surprise, Cerberus suddenly jumped forward, and let loose a firey inferno attack at the Steelix. Hit in the eyes with the hot flames, the large steel type reared its serpentine body, knocking in to the roof of the cave in pain as it tried to ease the burn. Unfortunately for then however, the knock caused the whole place to rumble, before the roof finally began to fall downwards, and much to Kitty's horror, begin to bury her Houndoom as well as close off their escape route.

More concerned for her Houndoom though, Kitty lunged at her Pokemon, and would've been buried by the rubble had Gary not catch her by her waist and hold her against him even as she struggled. He was loathed to watch her get buried alive, and it wasn't until the rock slide stopped, did he finally let her go. The moment he did, the dark haired girl lunged at the pile and begin digging at the rubble with her hands, tears of fear in her eyes as she tried to get to her Pokemon.

"Kit stop, you're going to hurt your hands," the male tried to pull him off, only to get a faceful of an angry female as she turned to him and shoved at his chest. "Its your fault! If you didn't hold me back, Cerberus wouldn't be buried under all of this!"

"What was I supposed to do, let you get buried as well? Sorry but I can't do that!" he replied equally heatedly, and then softening up when he finally recognized the glimmer of unshed tears. His heart always gave in whenever he saw Kitty cry, and it hurt him probably more then it hurt her whenever he saw them. Because he knew how much pride the girl had, and if she had tears, it probably hurts pretty darned bad. Stepping forward, he couldn't resist but to pull the girl against him and rubbed her back soothingly. "He's fine under there, okay? He's a tough guy. We'll get him out."

"Get him out now, now Gary Oak!" the girl demanded, pummeling his chest, and the brunette chuckled with a wince. "Stop manhandling me and I will." He murmured, pulling away before reaching for one of his Pokeballs he had. Releasing the device, his large Nidoking stretched at the space he had. "Nidoking, dig at that rubble, our friend's underneath!"

With the command, the large ground and poison type quickly began to move large rocks and rubble under the eyes of a worried Kitty. Tense moments of silence passed, but when the first glint of a Houndoom horn made its view, Kitty exclaimed loudly as she rushed forward, and forcefully yanked her fainted Houndoom out, falling over the weakened Pokemon as she tried to ascertain the damage. It wasn't until Cerberus weakly opened its eyes and licked her face, did her heart finally lightened up, convinced that whilst weak, her Houndoom would be fine after a visit to the Pokemon Centre.

"Told you he'd be fine, right?"

"Shut up smarty pants." Kitty retorted, despite a little weakly as she gave one last lookover before recalling Cerberus back in to his Pokeball to get rest. Straightening up, she finally casted her eyes at the solid wall of rock that blocked their exit, and then gave a questioning look at Gary. "Now what? Could Nidoking dig us out, you think?"

Shaking his head, Gary scrutinized the wall as he spoke. "Not happening. The blocking is probably a couple of feet in front of us, judging by how the Steelix was rearing. And the only other Pokemon I have with me now is my Kingdra and Krabby, both are pretty useless in this situation. Nidoking can't do this himself." Gary replied, as he recalled his large Pokemon back in to his Pokeball.

"And so?"

"We wait."

"We wait?" Kitty echoed in surprise, staring aghast at Gary, who merely shrugged and gave an easy going smile. "My staff will realize I'm gone in a bit. And they will find Dodrio waiting outside the cave. They're smart, they'll find out where I am soon enough."

"But I can't just sit around and do nothing! What if it takes days for them to realize we're gone, or weeks before they even find out where we are! You said it yourself, the caves a maze, it might take forever to determine which tunnel we took! And we're not even sure which one ourselves, from how we ran from the Steelix. What if we run out of air, and what if we-"

"Stop it, psycho." Gary cut in, yanking at Kitty and placing his palms over her mouth to stop the rambling string of words pouring from her. Bending down so he was eye level, he smirked. "Stop fussing. My men will find us soon enough. Trust me, I won't let anything happen to you."

Somehow, those words struck a chord within Kitty, and she immediately relaxed her previously tensed body enough for Gary to drop his hand from where it was over her mouth, and ruffle her hair, amused at her worried expression. "We're not about to run out of air, there are cracks in the wall for oxygen to get through, see?" he murmured gently, turning her by her shoulders to point it out at her, and then guided her towards a nearby wall, and prodded her to sit down.

Settling down next to her, the guy leaned against the wall, and then stared ruefully at the dirt and mud streaked pair of pants, and the white shirt that was beyond repair. "Not salvaging this shirt, am I?"

Looking at it, Kitty giggled, and shook her head, and Gary smiled to see that she was at least relaxed now. "Remember the time when the car broke and we had to camp the night out?"

"Oh god, I would never forget it. I thought my ears would surely burst from all the complaining the rest of the girls were doing." Kitty groaned, making Gary laughed as he too remembered all the whinging and whining he was getting from his cheerleaders. In the end, the two of them had gotten so fed up that they had picked up and left them at midnight, and ended up spending the whole night lying on their sleeping bags next to a nearby creek and talking till sunrise. A glance next to him proved to Gary that he wasn't the only one who remembered that night, judging by the faint blush on her cheeks. Unable to resist himself, Gary asked, "Why did you leave?"

The question was soft, but one that was pregnant with meaning, and Kitty let it drape over her for a minute as she mulled through an answer. "I told you before Gary. I had a dream I wanted to follow."

"Couldn't you have followed it with me?" he asked again, his voice soft, more wistful then anything now. And it was this tone that made Kitty's heart ache, as she finally chanced a look at him. Her eyes met his in the darkened cave, and the girl gulped as she recognized the raw emotion Gary had in his sable eyes. If she had ever thought that leaving was the hardest for her, maybe she needed to reconsider that.

Looking away, the girl's own eyes focused on her propped up knees again. "I needed to do it myself Gary. To prove to myself that I'm more then an airheaded teenager."

"You were never that, Kit. A little impulsive, and inexperienced maybe," he chuckled at the indignant look that the girl flashed him, and continued. "But you were never airheaded. Not like any of the other girls."

"Hey, that's my sister you're talking about."

"Well, Brittany hasn't done too bad for herself hasn't she, working as a newscaster and all."

Shrugging, Kitty gave a noncommittal nod of her head, and then unwittingly yawned as the toll of a sleepless night and the earlier adrenaline rush begin to kick in. Glancing at her when she yawned, Gary frowned when he noticed the dark circles, and nudged her. "Get some rest before help comes. It'll be a couple of hours at least, and since you were in my office earlier when I was woken up, I assume you haven't been able to sleep the whole night."

Again, another blush quickly dusted her cheeks, and Gary laughed when Kitty began to sputter as she tried to explain her presence in his office. Brushing them off though, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and pulled her so her head rested on his shoulder. "Sleep. I don't care why you were in my office earlier."

Biting her lip mid sputter, silence once again fell on the two of them, the only sound the dripping of water just beyond the wall as the girl tried to figure out what to say, and drawed a blank. In the end, she ended up mulling through everything so much, that she fell asleep on his shoulder, and Gary smiled as he felt her head loll forward.

Gently and slowly, he pulled her so he cradled her in his arms instead, her body half on his lap in a more confortable position. Pillowing her head with his left hand, the other draped themselves over her waist, before the scientist leaned back. But not before a smile curved his lips upwards when he heard the sleep induced murmur from the sleeping girl.

"_I missed you."_


	8. Chapter 8

OMG HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN. THEY ARE BRINGING BACK OLD CHARACTERS FOR BW2. THAT MEANS GARY IS BACK YOU GUYS, GARY IS BACK!3

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Sleeping soundly, Kitty was dreaming the most glorious dream of devouring every chocolate éclair she could find, when a loud crash startled her awake, and she jumped upright, looking around wildly in the dark cave, only to find Gary stretching as he yawned, his bones creaking before he rubbed his eyes blearily.

"What's going on, did the roof cave in again?"

"No." he mumbled, running a hand through mussed up brown hair, a bed look that quickly had Kitty looking away in embarrassment despite his obliviousness to her reaction. "Its just my assistants getting to us. I can hear them using Nidoking and Nidoqueen's, and Onixes." He mumbled through another yawn, but Kitty barely heard a word. Quickly recounting what had happened the night before, she gulped when she realized she had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

So how had she ended up in his arms? And did she say anything embarrassing? People have said that she would talk in her sleep. Oh no, this was bad, _very bad indeed_. "Whatever I said last night was just a dream Gary Oak! Nothing was true!" Kitty immediately jumped around and glared at Gary, at which the male researcher laughed and waved his hand at her.

"Don't worry bout it, you said nothing." The guy smirked, turning away from her. He wasn't so stupid as to tell her what he had heard, she would just deny everything. "How long have we been here, you think?"

"About an hour or so, maybe?"

"Wow, that took a long time. Maybe they need another scolding."

"Leave them be Gary, they have enough to handle with the recent poaching and the rampaging Steelix. Of course it had taken awhile to come and get us." Kitty refuted, and then frowned. "We still haven't found the Emolga yet."

"We'll come back, okay? Your Cerberus needs looking to anyway." Gary coaxed, a strategy that had Kitty agreeing to go back immediately, more worried about her own Pokemon.

Within half an hour, all of them were on their way back to the laboratory, but it wasn't until Kitty had safely deposited her Houndoom for the center's Nurse Joy to handle, did her mind turn back to the problem at hand whilst she meandered back to her office. So Cerberus had led them in to the caves… did that mean Emolga had ran in to the cave? Or was someone else taking her there?

So deep was she in her thoughts as she tried to go from the lobby to her office, she didn't even notice where she was walking till she ran headlong in to a person, and stumbled backwards just in time to hear a female squeal. By the time Kitty straightened herself up, Trixie was already busy trying to clean up the few strands of her hairdo that had fell out when they had collided in to each other, and blushed when she noticed Kitty's eyes on her.

"Sorry, I wasn't seeing where I was going." Kitty apologized with a smile, only to blink in surprise when all Trixie gave her was a stoic look, before brushing away. Blinking after the lady in surprise, she frowned as she tried to decipher what exactly was going on in her mind. Wait… her reaction was familiar actually, something Kitty had to deal with often, many many years ago when she had still been part of Gary's cheerleading team.

Jealousy?

Rolling her eyes, Kitty almost felt like strangling someone. Did this strange affliction Gary had on females not stop, even when he became a scientist? God, sometimes it was so frustrating being Gary's friend and colleague, not when all the females seem to be out to get you just because you spend a lot of time with him.

_Then again_… her mind seemed to remind her, _you're as smitten with him as the rest of them, aren't you?_ Her own mind's voice made her blush, and to hide it Kitty scowled, slamming the door behind her and sheepishly grinning when her Espeon glared at her for shocking her awake. "Oops, sorry Espeon." Not that the lavender feline was happy at being woken up, but she eventually returned to her slumber as Kitty began pacing around her room in irritation. Now, she did not like him. Of course she wasn't smitten with him! Why would she be, he's arrogant and annoying and… oh so charming. Plus, he was responsible these days too, no longer the devil may care rascal she used to follow around.

Oh, why did Gary Oak have to be so frustrating. Kitty groaned as she fell in to her seat, holding her head in her hands. _Okay, this ends __**now**_. She didn't need such a distraction in her life. She's left once before, she can again, and she's only here to help him do his work right? So she can leave right after!

Which means trying to solve it as quickly as possible.

Determination made, the girl quickly picked up her Espeon again, ignoring the undignified squeal from her psychic feline as she made her way to the dark laboratory housing the sleeping shinx. The beeps and blinking lights that greeted her were ignored, as Kitty placed her Espeon on the table, and scowled when she gave her trainer a disgruntled look. "Not now Espeon. Please, help me out here. Try and communicate with the Shinx again."

With a sigh and a flick of her tail, Espeon finally complied, her red gem glowing again as her sapphire eyes closed. Kitty waited with bated breathe, her knuckles almost white from gripping the edge of the examination table. She all but pounced on Espeon when the psychic type finally opened her eyes, demanding to know what had transpired.

"Underground passage… secret way… on the reserve?" she ended with a curious tone, but it only took less then a minute for it to click in to place, as realization dawned. "There's a secret passageway under the caves, that's how they've been coming in to steal the lab's Pokemon, and that's why Cerberus brought us there!" Kitty exclaimed.

Quickly returning her Espeon to its pokeball, she did a last check on the Shinx's vitals, and then proceeded to sprint out of the building. Once out, her tossed Pokeball soon had her riding her odd colored Rapidash across the vast lands of the reserve, and getting to the caves they had been stuck in early this morning took little to no time at all.

Zeus was not too happy at the idea of his mistress going in the dark caves alone, pawing at the ground to show his displeasure when he realized what Kitty was going to do. He neighed loudly, tossing his head until Kitty finally gave up, and pulled out another Pokeball. "Okay okay, I'll bring Donphan along with me alright." She complied, as the red flash revealed her reserved but powerful ground type. Satisfied now, Zeus allowed himself to be recaptured, the cave too narrow for him to enter.

With that, the girl pulled out her torchlight, and then addressed her Donphan. "Alright, there's a tunnel here somewhere Donphan. Could you bring me to it?" she asked, and grinned when her little gray elephant waved his trunk, before beginning to follow a trail only he could sense.

Trusting her Pokemon completely, Kitty began to follow him, but they had barely gotten a couple of steps when the Xtransreceiver on her wrist beeped. When she answered, Kitty's eyes widened at the sight of Gary's irate features. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the tunnel again!"

"Why, don't you know its dangerous there! We just got trapped under rubble there for goodness sake, do you have no sense of self preservation at all?"

Ignoring his berate, the girl waved him off before exclaiming. "I figured it out! I asked Espeon to take a chat with Shinx again, and the Shinx said that there is an underground tunnel that the poachers use to steal in and out of your reserve. That's how they've been eluding your capture, and that's why Cerberus brought us in here earlier!"

"Well you should've told that to me before you ran off yourself!" Gary retorted, still angry at how worried he had been when he discovered Kitty's office empty, and with no explanation. "Stay there till I come, do not attempt to do anything yourself!"

Well, it wasn't as if Kitty had any intention of listening to him anyway. The faster she solved this, the faster she could get away from him and all those kinds of funny feelings he gave her right? That means she had to go on. Asking her Donphan to continue, the girl pressed on with her flashlight, going deeper and deeper in to the tunnel until… ah, an entrance, bingo!

"Great job Donphan!" Kitty praised, patting the hard head of the ground type and grinning when the usually reserved Donphan rubbed his trunk against her hand. Peering cautiously in to the tunnel, she frowned at the darkness. Oh, she knew Gary was going to be furious with her, but since she's here… "I might as well, right Donphan? C'mon."

Cautious now, she creeped more slowly, occasionally reminding Donphan to make as less noise as possible. The tunnel was about 2 kilometre's long, but by the time they neared the end, Kitty stilled when she heard voices.

"_The boss will be happy with this. It's a Unova region one."_

"_When's the Delibird coming?"_

"_Should be here in a couple of hours. The boss needs a new prototype, and fast."_

Unable to help herself, Kitty gasped when she heard what they were going to use the Emolga for, but that was her downfall, as the two bald headed guys in the small cavern turned, and asked loudly. "Whose there!" Before Kitty had any warning, the two of them had released a pair of Seviper, leaving Kitty with no choice but to reveal herself, as she rolled to dodge a Poison Sting attack.

"You have no shame! How could you use Pokemon like that? The Shinx that escaped is barely clinging on to life right now!"

"Oh, so that's where that little rascal went. Well, you can be sure it won't be living for long" one of them sneered, to which Kitty scowled. "And its all your fault, you should feel ashamed! Donphan, roll out!" she commanded.

With a loud cry, the Donphan jumped, rolling its heavy body in to a ball before thundering towards the two of them. Whilst Donphan was strong though, one against two was never an even match up. Just before Donphan collided in to the two bald guys, the Sevipers turned up and ganged up, one using Wrap to stop Donphan whilst the other shot a Poison Sting right in to Donphan's face, making Kitty's heart break as her Donphan cried out in pain.

"Donphan!"

"Don't worry little missy. You'll be joining him soon." The other bald headed one sneered, and Kitty stared in horror as they came nearer. A couple of steps were all they took however, when a voice distracted them.

"The only one who'll be joining the ranks of the captured and tortured soon mister, would be you two."


	9. Chapter 9

This is probably gonna be my last update for a while. School's really hectic, but I'll try and slip in an update or two whenever I can!

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While Gary knew that his Arcanine was trying his best already, the spiky haired researcher couldn't help but try to urge his fire dog to go faster, faster, _faster_, because he simply couldn't shake off the feeling that Kitty was in danger. And all throughout the journey there, he couldn't stop cursing inwardly at how brash she acted, and how she never asked for anyone else's opinions. How he ever fell for a girl like her, Gary could never figure out, but why did she have to be so infuriating?

He liked her? Yes, so what if it took awhile, Gary Oak was finally admitting that yes, he did have feelings for one Catherine Thorne. But right about now, he wished he didn't, because trying to deal with her was like trying to talk sense to a wooden stump. She had no sense of danger at all, he swore!

Quickly vaulting off Arcanine as the large fire dog screeched to a stop in front of the cave entrance, Gary didn't even bother to recall Arcanine back in to his Pokeball as he took off at a run down the dim and dark cave entrance, running as fast as he could. _'You better be fine. Or I'll revive you to strangle you with my bare hands.'_

"Kellyn!"

In her wildest dreams, Kitty would never imagined that the person who had spoken up would be Kellyn, her old friend from Ranger Union and one she held dear to her heart. The brunette flashed Kitty a grin, and then frowned at the two lowly grunts who now stared in shock at the Ranger who had suddenly appeared.

"Now would you like to be tortured as well? Or would just capturing do fine? I'm giving you a choice here." He taunted with a smirk, and Kitty couldn't help but chuckle a little at the familiar easy-going nature Kellyn had.

"Neither." Grunt #1 sneered, and began to send his Seviper out. Seemingly unfazed though, Kellyn simply shrugged and tugged at his capture styler. "You asked for it." He smirked, and in no time at all, had acquired the assistance of a nearby Marowak and Graveler to deflect both the Poison Sting and Wrap attacks the grunt had called on Kellyn.

So caught up was she in watching the ease and grace in which Kellyn dealt with the bad guys however, Kitty almost forgot the second grunt still lingering around, until a movement of the other Seviper caught her eye. Immediately, the dark haired female whirled on the grunt trying to tip toe away with the captured Emolga, and scowled. "You're going nowhere. Donphan, roll out!"

Reacting quickly to his mistress's commands, the ground type elephant threw its trunk out declaring revenge before he rolled in to a wheel again and barreled right in to the Seviper, pinning the serpent to the wall of the cave before jumping backwards. "Horn attack!" She commanded, and quickly the Donphan's tusks grew white as the heavy ground type barreled once more in to the Seviper, leaving the poison type fainted.

Turning once the grunt cried in defeat and surrender, Kitty grinned as she watched Kellyn tie up the other one, and the two made quick work of both of the men before Kitty finally turned to give her old friend a proper greeting. Well, a proper greeting in her terms anyway, which included a bear hug. Kellyn laughed as the slight sized Pokemon researcher hugged him tightly, and easily returned it affectionately.

Before the two of them could exchange any words though, a clatter of footsteps drew them apart, yet before they could untangle limbs, Gary came panting in to the cave entrance, only to have himself draw up short when he saw the scene.

The researcher had heard all the sounds of battle and attacks, and his anxiousness went up by a thousand notches at the idea of Kitty being in danger. But he never expected to see two grunts all tied up and tangled with knocked out Sevipers, but what shocked him most was to see Kitty embracing… a guy.

His eyes narrowed, but luckily for him Gary was smart enough to recognize that the dark haired female was in no danger, and indeed she was quite happily grinning at the guy before walking up to Gary with a sheepish grin. "Hey there."

"What did I tell you about staying put?"

"But we found Emolga, look!" Kitty exclaimed, bending down to pick up the knocked out Emolga in a glass carrier. Silently, Gary took the carrier and gave the electric flying type a onceover to make sure it was fine. Only then did he turn disapproving glare at Kitty, and raised a brow. "I'm sorry! But I had to do _something_." She argued again, trying to defend herself, only to find her words trailing off as Gary continued to glare dispassionately at her.

"Give her a break dude, Kitty's always been like this. Headstrong and running first in to danger."

Only when the guy spoke up, did Gary finally turn to look at him, already having a bad impression on the guy cladded in his Ranger outfit simply because Kitty was embracing him in a way Gary's never gotten before.

"Oh, Gary! This is Kellyn, my old colleague and friend from the Ranger Union!" Kitty hurriedly introduced, momentarily forgetting the fact that she was supposed to be apologetic to Gary as she rushed to yank Kellyn forward. The good natured Ranger grin as he offered a hand, something that Gary took, if a little begrudgingly. Kellyn seem to not notice the reluctance in being friendly with him though, his grin in place as he turned back to survey the two cowering grunts.

"What do you suppose we should do with them?"

"Call Ranger Union to take them away? Officer Jenny doesn't come around these parts often." Gary suggested, shrugging. Eventually, the three of them decided that Ranger Union could handle them, and made the necessary arrangements for the crooks to be taken away that evening itself, before they headed back to the laboratory.

"What were you thinking? You could've gotten in to major trouble!" The lecture Gary had been giving Kitty ever since they begin to walk back to the laboratory hadn't even ended yet, and Kitty's ears were getting quite a blistering.

"But I didn't!" she argued back, only to be interrupted when Kellyn cleared his throat, and raised a brow at the girl. Contrite, she bit her lip and looked down at her toes. "Okay so maybe I almost did… But Kellyn was there!"

"And what if I wasn't?"

"You were always there to get me out of fixes!" Kitty exclaimed with a grin at her friend, something that made the green monster in Gary reared its head again. The researcher scowled, and almost missed out the question that Kitty posed to Kellyn wondering what he was doing here.

"Like you. Union heard of the poaching problems here, and because we've had similar cases happen before somewhere around here, they sent me here to investigate. The Golem only led me so far though, before I had to go save your sorry ass." Kellyn teased, which made Kitty flush as she scowled at her friend and playfully threw a punch at his arm.

And all through watching their interaction, Gary couldn't help but wonder just what exactly was the relationship between the two of them. Kitty wasn't even that comfortable around him! Although in all honesty, he was probably partially to blame for that…. But she was the one who had left and she's the one whose calling all the shots now! So how could he be the one at fault?

* * *

Simmering in his own anger, when they finally entered the laboratory Gary whisked away with only a brisk explanation, leaving Kellyn blinking quite confused at the abruptness of the researcher's attitude. "Leave it. His mood swings are worst then a pregnant woman's." Kitty waved off with a grin, but still threw a glance over her shoulder as she herded Kellyn towards the cafeteria.

Oh, she knew why Gary was acting the way he was. Kitty wasn't dense… but what could she do? Kellyn was a close friend of hers, and since she wasn't planning on taking things any further with Gary, this is the best chance she had at fending anything off before it could fester.


End file.
